We got a great response to our request for suggestions on who to approach for funding – thanks everyone! Suggestions included Learned Societies and Institutes, companies, charities and public bodies like NESTA, SETpoints and the SLC.

Some of these people I did contact when we were originally looking for funding for the pilot, but didn’t get very far. Pretty much everyone said they didn’t have any money, but suggested we tried the Wellcome Trust People Awards (who came up trumps). However, now we have a tried and tested event it should be a different proposition. Hopefully.

I keep reading about how there’s going to be a skills gap, young people are being turned off science and technology and everyone wants to invest in projects to combat this, and all I can think is, “We can do it! Give us some money!”.

The latest thing I’ve been reading is part of the evaluation of the 21st Century Science pilot (sort of the fore-runner to the new GCSE). The paper* was published in the School Science Review from the ASE but unfortunately you can’t read the article online. There is a summary of the whole evaluation online here. One of the key things they found was that discussion is a very effective tool for engaging students, getting them to really think, and deepening their understanding, but many teachers aren’t sure how to get that going.

“I think [the course] has made me think about – more about having discussion group based classroom activities. But I do think I need retraining or a bit of help in knowing good techniques really – in understanding what techniques work.”

C21 Study participant (teacher)

We found that the activities in I’m a Scientist** – and the way they were combined with talking to real scientists, and students having a say – were great training for students in debate and discussion skills. And great training for teachers in running those kinds of activity.

“The IVF debate went on for two lessons and they started defending their viewpoints which they wouldn’t have done before. They also began to see all sides of the argument rather than have a blinkered approach.”

Rachel Cockburn, teacher, IAS pilot

“The confidence to tackle more controversial topics in a debating lesson. I would not have opted to do that previously.”

Janet Harland, teacher, IAS pilot

The conclusions of the SSR paper were that there were lots of positives about 21st Century Science, but the changeover hadn’t been easy and it involved some hard work for teachers. They suggested four ways of helping teachers to teach the course:-

• Providing more resources which focus on ‘ideas-about-science’ [similar content to How Science Works] and promote collaborative working.
• Developing more interactive techniques which encourage student contributions.
• Teaching students more explicitly about understanding and interpreting texts.
• Providing opportunities for professional development on specific approaches (e.g. effective peer-group discussion).

*Hand shoots up* Me Miss! I know the answer! I’m a Scientist does all of those things!

I mean, am I just too obsessed or does that sound exactly like a brief describing I’m a Scientist?

Anyway, that’s probably enough self-congratulation for one day. On a lighter note, my favourite quirky science story of the week is the Dance Your PhD YouTube competition. I really loved “A Molecular Dance in the Blood, Observed” (about how haemoglobin binds oxygen). It made the molecular biology (and the science used to investigate it) so clear, while still being graceful and a pleasure to watch.

*Hanley, Pam, Osborne, Jonathan and Ratcliffe, Mary (2008) Teaching twenty first century science. School Science Review, 90, (330), 105-112

**If you want to download copies of the teaching materials then they are freely available under a Creative Commons licence.